Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu’s request for a generous funding for “AP” – Amaravati and Polavaram – was addressed in the Union Budget with a Rs 15,000 crore “arrangement” for the capital development and a commitment to finance early completion of the multi-purpose irrigation project.
In Budget speech Tuesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also announced funds for essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads in two industrial nodes on the Visakhapatnam-Chennai and Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridors.
The finance minister said additional allocation would be provided towards capital investment for economic growth in Andhra Pradesh. The state will also get backward region grants, she added.
Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP), with 16 Lok Sabha MPs, is the largest ally in the Narendra Modi 3.0 government. In 2018, Naidu had exited the NDA acrimoniously after Modi declined to accord the special category status (SCS) to the truncated state, which lost growth engine Hyderabad to Telangana in the 2014 bifurcation.
Formulated to support backward, hilly terrain states with incentives like tax concessions to attract industries, investments in order to aid faster growth, the SCS remained unaddressed this time, too.
As the other main NDA partner JD(U) has been seeking the same status for Bihar, and the BJD too on the same page for Odisha, Naidu’s TDP has this time remained silent, given PM Modi’s known firm stand against giving the tag to such states.
Citing the 14th Finance Commission recommendations, junior finance minister Pankaj Chaudhary has conveyed the Centre’s position in response to a JD(U) MP’s Parliament question and practically ruled out SCS for any state.
So instead, Naidu, TDP insiders said, insisted on a liberal funding, which the CM says is essential to rebuild the state, including Amaravati and Polavaram, “devastated by Jaganmohan Reddy’s five-year rule of irrational plans, decisions.”
Naidu responded on ‘X’, thanking PM Narendra Modi and Sitharaman, and said “the Centre’s support will go a long way towards rebuilding Andhra Pradesh.”
On behalf of the people of Andhra Pradesh, I thank the Hon'ble Prime Minister, @narendramodi Ji and Hon'ble Union Finance Minister, @nsitharaman Ji, for recognising the needs of our State and focusing on a Capital, Polavaram, industrial nodes and development of backward areas in… pic.twitter.com/ImgW3sor8d
— N Chandrababu Naidu (@ncbn) July 23, 2024
His son and education, IT minister Nara Lokesh described the “special and holistic package covering all important areas like industrial growth, infrastructure, irrigation and HRD” as “a new sunrise for Andhra Pradesh.”
“Today will be marked as a red-letter day in the new state’s history. This is the first step towards our march together to building a state of our dreams.”
In contrast, the opposition YSRCP said the “arrangement” for the Rs 1.5 lakh crore Amaravati capital project was “peanuts”. “AP people have been short-sold by TDP which promised us the stars but compromised later for just a small change and a very insignificant ministry,” it said.
“TDP lost a golden opportunity, settling for Rs 15,000 crore. That it will be ‘arranged’ means it will be a loan on AP. Bihar gets Rs 26,000 crore as ‘allocation’ and we get Rs 15,000 crore ‘arranged’,” Vijaya Sai Reddy, YSRCP Parliamentary party leader said, on ‘X’.
“The same marketing was done in 2014 and only five temporary secretariat buildings were constructed by 2019.”
YellowMedia is so happy with the budget that they all are planning to shift to AP. Some of them are also planning to relocate to Amaravati. I would like to remind them that they will still have to spread lies for TRP and nothing will change for them.
Much more was expected by…
— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) July 23, 2024
Also Read: Naidu’s 4th white paper blasts Jagan regime for ‘loot’ of natural resources. Anti-land grab law soon
Breakdown of largesse
On Tuesday, Sitharaman allocated a special sub-head — Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act — to detail the support offered to the NDA-ruled state.
“Our government has made concerted efforts to fulfil the commitments in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act. Recognising the state’s need for a capital, we will facilitate special financial support through multilateral development agencies. In the current financial year, Rs 15,000 crore will be arranged, with additional amounts in future years,” she said.
After coming to power in June, Naidu announced that he would redevelop Amaravati – his brainchild, greenfield mega capital – as the sole state capital. All the construction etc works on the new capital, located between Vijayawada and Guntur, on river Krishna banks, had come to a halt in 2019 under the YSRCP rule.
While Modi’s first government promised Rs 2,500 crore for initial infrastructure works, as on May 2019, only Rs 1,500 crore were released for Amaravati development, Naidu’s white paper released earlier this month said, accusing Jagan’s opposition for the held-up balance.
Sitharaman said that the central government “is fully committed to financing and early completion of the Polavaram Irrigation Project, “a lifeline for Andhra Pradesh and its farmers.” This will facilitate the country’s food security as well, she added.
Presenting a white paper on Polavaram last month, Naidu said his predecessor Jagan was “a curse” that stalled the Rs 55,548 crore multipurpose national project, on River Godavari, “a lifeline for the state.”
Apart from the two major demands, the finance minister said grants would also be provided for backward regions in AP – “Rayalaseema, Prakasam and North Coastal Andhra, as stated in the Act.”
Under the Act, for promoting industrial development, funds would be provided for essential infrastructure such as water, power, railways and roads in Kopparthy node on the Visakhapatnam-Chennai Industrial Corridor and Orvakal node on Hyderabad-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor. An additional allocation would be provided this year towards capital investment for economic growth, Sitharaman’s speech reads.
Additionally, Sitharaman said Andhra Pradesh, along with Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, will be included under Purvodaya, “a plan under formulation for the all-round development of the eastern region of the country rich in endowments and have strong cultural traditions.”
Purvodaya plan covers human resource development, infrastructure, and generation of economic opportunities to make the region an engine to attain Viksit Bharat, she said.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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